"Liam?" Selene walking into her son's room said gently, knocking once before letting herself in. He was on the bed, staring at the ceiling, his jaw tight.
" I don't want to talk," he muttered.
"Well, I do," she said, stepping inside. "Look, I know this place is hard. I know it's not what you wanted. But this anger you're carrying, it's not going to help you nor would it help us both. I'm worried it's only going to eat you alive."
Liam turned his head, his young face pained. "Why do you let them talk to you like that? Why do you even care about what he thinks?" He was speaking about Kyle.
Selene's breath caught. "It's… complicated," she said softly. " Kyle and I have a past. We kind of hurt each other, something like friends do. Close friends. You'll understand this when you have some. But- what matters is, what you see now isn't the whole story. Sometimes, the one who looks like the bad guy isn't really the villain. And the person who's hurt the most doesn't always look like the victim, just as Kyle said." Selene found herself repeating his words.
Kyle hadn't left yet. Standing outside the door, he caught fragments of Selene's words.
' victim… villain… hurt.'
The sound made his jaw tighten. Memories he'd buried long ago clawed their way up.
Memories of betrayal, of pain, of hurt that he still hadn't forgiven. His hands curled into fists as the fury boiled in his chest.
' She still doesn't get it,' he thought bitterly. She could apologize all she wanted, but the wound she left in him wasn't something time could heal. He hated how just the sound of her voice still stirred something inside him.
Kyle turned sharply, storming back to his truck. If there was one thing he knew, it was that he wouldn't let Liam become what he had become. No rage. No hatred.
And as his engine roared to life, he made himself a silent promise:
Selene might have broken him once, but this time, he wouldn't be the one left bleeding.
...
Selene sat curled up on her bed, her knees pulled to her chest. Kyle's teasing voice from earlier resonating in her mind:
" You shouldn't speak so dismissively about matters of the heart?"
It kept echoing in her mind like a taunt she couldn't shake.
She hated how a single line from him could make her chest tighten and her thoughts spin.
Why did he always get under her skin like this?
She'd told herself she was over him, but every time he came close, her faked feelings melted away, and she felt like that same girl wanting and chasing him from the night of her son's coming-of-age ceremony.
What was she saying, how can she not be the same person? She had left the city and moved back here all because of him.
She was crazy in love. In fact, she was obsessed with him!
' And him...?' Selene's face grew warm as she remembered how his voice had softened when he apologized, how his dark eyes had briefly lost their usual coldness.
' Maybe he's not as heartless as he pretends…' Selene pondered with a sweet smile.
The thought made her sigh, rolling onto her back. She needed to stop thinking about him. Kyle wasn't the type of man you could love without bleeding.
...
While Selene was lost in her thoughts, Liam slipped out the back door. His chest still felt tight from earlier, his words to his mom playing over and over in his mind. He wasn't proud of what he'd said.
But what made him angrier was Kyle. The man's presence alone seemed to fill every space like a shadow, and Liam hated that his mom let Kyle's sharp words cut her. She hated the fact that his mother defended him everytime even more!
Still frustrated, Liam walked down the path that led to the edge of the woods, his sneakers crunching against fallen leaves. The night air was cool and calming, carrying the faint scent of pine. His feet moved without thinking, leading him to the lake he'd discovered earlier that week.
The water was still and dark, reflecting the silver crescent moon like a perfect mirror. Liam dropped to a crouch near the shore, running his fingers through the cool grass. For a moment, the tension inside him eased.
Until he saw him.
Kyle stood at the far side of the lake, his silhouette broad and imposing against the moonlight. His arms were crossed as he stared out over the water, as still and unyielding as the trees around them.
' Of course he's here,' Liam scoffed internally. ' The roach shows up everywhere.'
He stood up quickly, intending to turn around and leave. He didn't want another awkward encounter. But something made him stop. Maybe it was curiosity, or maybe it was that nagging feeling that his mom and Kyle shared a story he didn't know.
A story that explained all the tension between them.
So instead of leaving, he started walking toward him.
" It's good that you're starting to follow me, kid," Kyle's deep voice cut through the quiet before Liam even reached him. He turned slightly, one dark brow raised. "You sure I'm not your father, the way you keep showing up where I am?"
Liam's jaw clenched. "You're not my father!"
Kyle's lips curled into a faint chuckle. "No. But I could have been."
Liam frowned, his thought skipping. "What's that supposed to mean?"
But Kyle didn't answer the question. He just stared out over the calm body of water, his reflection rippling under the pale moonlight. "You remind me of my past self," he said instead, his tone quieter now, more serious. "All that anger. All that fire with nowhere to go."
"I'm not like you," Liam snapped. "I'm not a jerk."
Kyle's chuckle was low, almost amused. "Look in the mirror, kid. You think I didn't hear how you talked to your mom earlier? You were as much of a jerk as I've ever been."
Liam's chest tightened, and for once, he didn't have a comeback. He stared down at the ground, feeling a pang of guilt crawl into his chest. He had truly hurt his mom today, the one person who never deserved it.